Tennial last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Tennial is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Tennial.

Meaning of Tennial

A surname derived from the Old English word "tennial" meaning farmer or one who tills the soil.

Tennial, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Tennial surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tennial in America

Tennial is the 107134th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tennial surname appeared 166 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Tennial.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tennial to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 107134 108734 -1.48%
Count 166 151 9.46%
Proportion per 100k 0.06 0.06 0.00%

The history of the last name Tennial

The surname Tennial is of English origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "tene", which means "trouble" or "vexation". The name likely originated as a nickname for someone who was seen as a troublemaker or a source of aggravation.

One of the earliest records of the name Tennial can be found in the Hertfordshire County Records of 1273, where a certain William Tennial is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use by the 13th century in the East Anglian region of England.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire, where a John Tennial is listed as a landowner. This indicates that by this time, the Tennial family had established themselves as minor gentry in the county of Wiltshire.

In the 15th century, the name is recorded in the Paston Letters, a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk. One of the letters, dated 1472, mentions a Thomas Tennial who was involved in a legal dispute over land ownership.

During the Tudor period, the name Tennial gained some prominence with the birth of Sir Edward Tennial (1527-1592). He was a soldier and courtier who served under both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Sir Edward Tennial is notable for his role in the suppression of the Northern Rebellion in 1569.

Another significant figure bearing the Tennial name was Richard Tennial (1635-1711), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Gloucestershire. He was a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers and played a prominent role in the development of the city of Bristol in the late 17th century.

In the 18th century, the Tennial family had a presence in the West Midlands, as evidenced by the birth of Mary Tennial (1756-1832) in the village of Tettenhall, near Wolverhampton. Mary Tennial went on to become a renowned poet and writer, publishing several collections of verse during her lifetime.

The 19th century saw the Tennial name spread to other parts of the British Isles, with the birth of Robert Tennial (1812-1891) in the Scottish town of Peebles. Robert Tennial was a prominent businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the development of Glasgow's shipbuilding industry.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tennial

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Tennial.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Tennial was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 3.01% 5
Non-Hispanic Black Only 90.96% 151
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 3.01% 5
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Tennial has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 3.01% (S)% (S)%
Black 90.96% 94.04% -3.33%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races 3.01% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% 3.31% (S)%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Tennial was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Tennial, please contact us.

Reference this page

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"Tennial last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/tennial-surname-popularity/.

"Tennial last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/tennial-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Tennial last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/tennial-surname-popularity/.

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